Arsenal’s 100 per cent start to their Premier League title defence ended in emphatic fashion as Brighton secured a stunning 3-0 win against Mikel Arteta’s dumbstruck side.

Arsenal arrived at the Amex Stadium with ambitions of equalling a 123-year club record of eight straight victories to start a season, but that piece of history looked in doubt right from the kick-off, with a rampant Brighton side delivering a masterclass against the champions.

Pascal Gross blasted Brighton ahead after 31 minutes before Charalampos Kostoulas doubled the hosts’ lead on the stroke of half-time.

Arteta sprinted down the tunnel in the hope of masterminding a half-time speech which would revive his side’s fortunes.

But Brighton remained on top after the interval and they served Arsenal a dose of their own medicine when Chema Andres headed home from a corner shortly before the hour mark.

A disjointed Arsenal were never at the races, and Arteta will now have 21 days to stew over a shock result, which will abruptly end any suggestion of his side cantering to a second league title in as many seasons.

For Brighton, surely the best result of manager Fabian Hurzeler’s career – just days after a brilliant Carabao Cup comeback win at Manchester United – catapults them up to third in the table, just two points off the Gunners.

Arteta might have rotated his side for their win at Ipswich earlier in the week, but here he fielded his strongest side – one that simply could not live with their inspired opponents.

After just seven minutes, Bruno Guimaraes, making his first Premier League start for his new employers, gave the ball away, and Kostoulas tried his luck from range.

David Raya got fingertips to the Brighton man’s shot, but it was a sign of things to come.

Arsenal were pegged in by the relentless Seagulls and the hosts’ deserved breakthrough arrived.

Gabriel and Riccardo Calafiori allowed Gross far too much time to shoot, and his fine 20-yard strike pinged in off Raya’s near post.

A case could be made for Raya being Arsenal’s MVP last season, but the Spaniard should have done better to divert Gross’ long-range strike away from danger.

The largely anonymous Bukayo Saka fluffed his lines when he failed to get any meaningful contact in a fine Arsenal counter-attack and Brighton raced straight up the other end to increase their advantage.

Calafiori was out of position and, when the ball fell to Kostoulas, the visitors failed to put any pressure on the Greece forward. He unleashed an unstoppable low strike from 22 yards and Raya was beaten again.

It was virtually the last kick of the first half and Arteta sprinted for the dressing room ahead of a pivotal team-talk, with Arsenal’s 100 per cent record hanging in the balance, and then some.

And Andres all but ended any hope of a comeback when he leapt unmarked from a corner to head a third for Brighton with 57 minutes on the clock.

Brighton went in search of a fourth and they nearly had it when Pascal Struijk’s header, again from a corner, dropped just wide of Raya’s post with the goalkeeper swinging at fresh air.

Kai Havertz might have landed a consolation for Arsenal in the closing stages, but Bart Verbruggen was equal to the one-on-one – the keeper’s only real test of the match – while substitute Matt O’Riley could have marked a match to celebrate Brighton’s 125-year anniversary with a fourth, but Raya was on hand to spare any further embarrassment.

Defeat brought Peters’ successful reign as Rovers coach to an end, as he leaves to join new NRL franchise PNG Chiefs next season, and his team produced an underwhelming display which reflected their inconsistent season.

They finished eight points behind the Wolves in the Super League table and that gap was evident as Burgess’s early fumble gifted Currie a try under the posts, with Ewan Irwin converting and then adding a penalty as Sam Burgess’s side dominated.

The Robins briefly showed the style which brought them last season’s Super League title, the League Leaders’ Shield and Challenge Cup as Arthur Mourgue broke from close to his own line and Joe Burgess was in support to score a try that took them within two points.

Wire’s response was instant as they carved open the Robins’ right flank and Ashton finished for his 100th Super League try, although Rovers fans still had belief that their side could turn it around in the second half.

Those hopes evaporated as Hiku stupidly thrust his closed fist in the face of a startled Williams, and a video review deemed it to be a red card offence.

Rovers continued to battle as Karl Lawton thrust his foot under the ball to prevent a Josh Thewlis try and Hadley went up the other end to take the 12 men to within four points.

Hadley seemed set to level the scores as he strode for the posts but James Bentley stole the ball and broke, and when the pacy Ashton got up in support, there was only going to be one outcome as he claimed his third of the night.

That deflated a resurgent Robins side and Hopoate produced a spectacular acrobatic finish, Williams added a one-pointer and King said farewell to the Halliwell Jones Stadium on his final home appearance before joining London Broncos with a late try to round off a comprehensive win.

Warrington: Josh Thewlis; Hopoate, Lindop, King, Ashton; Williams, Irwin; Byrne, Walker, Harrison, Stone, Bentley, Currie

Interchanges: Yates, Hayes, Philbin, Tanginoa

Hull KR: Mourgue; Davies, Hiku, Gildart, Burgess; Lewis, May; Sue, Litten, Hadley, Whitbread, Batchelor, Minchella

Interchanges: Amone, Broadbent, Luckley, Lawton

Sent off: Hiku (42)

Referee: Aaron Moore.

In a professional career spanning nearly three decades, Indian tennis great Leander Paes won 18 Grand Slam titles and an Olympic medal. Speaking at the launch event of the new season of the NDTV-AM Green IGPL Golf Pro-Am, Paes reflected on the longevity of his career and the factors behind his trophy-laden journey during a chat with NDTV Executive Editor (Sports) Gaurav Gala. Leander said his driving ambition was always to win an Olympic medal for India and prove that Indians could excel on the world stage in any sport.

“I think it’s passion and I think it’s fun. I grew up with parents who built their own legacy, so my focus in life was always to prove that Indians can be world champions at anything. For me, winning an Olympic medal for India meant more than anything else. As a child, I grew up polishing my father’s Olympic medal and dreaming of creating something similar for my country,” said Leander.

“When you win an Olympic medal for the first time, people call it a fluke. When you do it again, they ask, ‘Can you do it once more?’ That’s what motivated me throughout my career.”

Paes, however, admitted that he was fortunate to share the global stage with some of the biggest names in world tennis.

“I’ve been incredibly fortunate to play alongside some of the greatest partners in the world, from Martina Navratilova and Martina Hingis to my Indian partner Mahesh Bhupathi. No matter who I played with, the goal remained the same: to prove that Indians can be world champions,” he added.

“Proving that Indians can compete with and beat the best in the world has always been my biggest motivation.”

Led by Leander Paes’ vision of grassroots development, wellness and elite performance, his venture, Flying Man Ventures, has come on board as the franchise owner of the Kolkata leg of the IGPL. Speaking about the initiative, Leander credited former India cricketer Yuvraj Singh, one of the league’s founding members, for helping expand the IGPL’s footprint beyond India and giving it a truly global identity.

“First of all, I want to thank the AM-Green IGPL and Yuvi Paaji for helping build this incredible platform. For me, sport is one of the greatest vehicles to educate and empower young people. India has the largest youth population in the world, and empowering more than 250 million children has always been a passion of mine. IGPL gives golfing legends and young players an opportunity to compete while also taking the sport closer to the community.”

“IGPL is a fantastic league because it has a truly global vision. While many of the tournaments are held in India, we are also expanding internationally. We start in Ras Al Khaimah tomorrow, and I think the format has tremendous potential to grow the game and inspire the next generation of golfers.”

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A 51-year-old star has slammed WWE for saddling Roman Reigns with bad creative. The Head of the Table was in action this week on RAW and was successful in the defense of his World Heavyweight Championship against Penta.

Reigns has really come into his own with his Tribal Chief persona and established himself as one of the biggest stars of the promotion, who is adored by the fans. This is a far cry from the days when the company first pushed him to the top over a decade ago.

Despite being presented as a babyface, he was heavily booed, and his character often came across as trying too hard to be the good guy. Speaking on The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, the tag team legend assessed whether Reigns was ready for the top spot back in 2015-2016.

Hardy said he doubts whether he was equipped to handle the role but said WWE had already made up its mind about pushing him. He said while they eventually were successful, his early run as the Big Dog was hampered by the creative he was given.

“I do think some of the creative he had was real bad. Like you said, the dog food thing, especially for a character that is meant to be very serious and be like a main eventer, the top guy, the draw, the sell. He had his moments where it was good, but I do think there were a lot of times he was saddled with some bad creative. Maybe even bad lines,” he said.

Matt Hardy recalled the infamous “suffering succotash” promo by Roman Reigns and said that his character didn’t need to be comic relief but a serious star.

“That isn’t what you need out of that guy. His job isn’t humor relief. His job is to go out there and be this good-looking, hot guy that all the chicks love, and then all the dudes like, ‘This guy’s badass because he can kick anybody’s a**. That’s what you need to believe. You don’t need him going out there and doing stand-up comedy,” he added.

JBL says Roman Reigns does not need to wrestle on TV every week

Roman Reigns’ World Championship match against Penta on RAW was his first match on WWE TV in over a year. The match lived up to its hype and delivered an instant classic.

Hall of Famer JBL talked about the contest on Something to Wrestle With. He said that the OTC1 has become a rare attraction, and that’s why whenever he wrestles on TV, it is a big deal.

JBL mentioned that this was part of the reason why his match with Penta was special. He argued that, given Roman Reigns’ status as a special attraction, he doesn’t need to wrestle every week on TV.

If you use quotes from this article, please credit Extreme Life of Matt Hardy and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.